Dipke seeks ‘complete overhaul’ of education system after IIT student's suicide: ‘If this is the situation…'

The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke on Friday flagged repeated suicides among IIT students, saying that if this was the situation at the best institutes in the country, one could imagine the state of the rest.

Taking to the social media platform X, Dipke said that the IITs have witnessed 65 student suicides in the last 5 years. This comes days after a 31-year-old IIT Delhi student, pursuing an MSc in Physics, allegedly died by suicide on the campus.

“IITs, considered among the best educational institutions in our country, have witnessed 65 student suicides in the last five years. If this is the situation at our best institutions, imagine the state of the rest,” Dipke wrote.

The CJP founder, who has been leading a ‘School Thik Karo’ campaign, said that the country needs a “complete overhaul of our education system”.

“We need a complete overhaul of our education system, one that creates an environment where students feel supported, heard and hopeful about their future, rather than leaving them isolated, overwhelmed and struggling in silence,” he added.

The IIT student’s suicide

The 31-year-old student allegedly jumped from the sixth floor of the Lecture Hall Complex (LHC) at the IIT Delhi campus on Saturday.

Police said no suicide note was recovered from the student’s possession or from the incident spot, and they were trying to ascertain the exact reason behind the step.

Officials said that the police have registered a case of abetment to suicide against unidentified persons.

Deputy commissioner of police (southwest) Amit Goel said that around 8.33am on Saturday, the police control room received a call regarding a student jumping from a building at the IIT Delhi campus.

“A police team reached the spot and shifted the injured person to the IIT Delhi campus hospital, but declared dead on arrival,” said Goel.

IIT) Delhi has reconstituted the external probe panel set up to examine the circumstances surrounding the death of the student, with retired Delhi High Court judge Mukta Gupta as its head, officials said on Thursday. The institute had on Tuesday set up a five-member committee to investigate the circumstances that led to the death.

The development came after outraged students held protests on campus, prompting the administration to order the suspension of classes on Monday.

But former Uttarakhand DGP Ashok Kumar, who was appointed as chair of the probe panel, recused himself from the committee citing "personal reasons”. So the panel was reconstituted.